Brain and Behaviour

Area Description (St. George)

Behaviour results from neural and chemical systems working together in the brain. Behavioural Neuroscientists study how motivated behaviours and learning change when brain systems are altered.

The new Centre for Biological Timing and Cognition (CBTC) has transformed our ability to use animal models to study the genetic and chemical bases of motivated behaviours and human diseases.

Daphna Buchsbaum's research investigates the complex interplay between social and causal reasoning: How children, adults and non-human animals use social information to help them understand the physical world. In addition to behavioral experiments with children and dogs, her lab uses probabilistic computational models to help address some of these questions.

Laura Corbit studies the behavioural and neural control of instrumental learning and reward-seeking behaviours. She is particularly interested in the role of different types of behavioural control and how they are acquired, as well as how life experiences such as diet or exposure to drugs alters learning and behavioural control.

Gillian Einstein studies gender differences in human behaviour and brain anatomy and has recently published a book entitled Sex and the Brain .

Junchul Kim studies how the brain is wired for processing information from the environment to generate adaptive emotional responses, with a focus on neuronal circuits in the ventral hippocampus that modulate anxiety. Motivating his work is that the resultant findings are likely to yield new insights into the pathophysiology of anxiety-related disorders and potentially provide new therapeutic targets for their treatment.

Martin Ralph studies genes and systems that control circadian rhythms and learning.

Sara Shettleworth studies learning and cognition in animals, and has published a comprehensive book on comparative cognition Cognition, Evolution and Behavior.

Kaori Takehara-Nishiuchi studies systems underlying learning and memory using animal models for human episodic memory. She is particularly interested in the role of the medial prefrontal cortex in memory consolidation and storage.